Family!!! Well... there's lots of sunshine where you are... and fires I hear? Whoa. Nie Dobre, or as some would say No Bueno... I'm glad that Cornell and Louis didn't lose their homes, and that people are safe. I guess that means I can't complain about the hot weather here... it's so humid, I swear I lose several pounds a day when the sun is out. But there's also been a lot of rain storms here in Poland too, and I LOVE the RAIN! I love having my umbrella out and I love hearing the thunder and seeing lightning, it's so powerful. Those storms, the fires, perhaps signs of the Second Coming, eh? I just love it!!!
Well I want to give you some idea of what Poland is like, then I want to tell you about some of my new FRIENDS! Well, here in Poland, when people greet you, they give you a hug and kiss you on the cheek, some just make the kissing noise by your cheek and don't really kiss you...haha...but yeah, it's cool! Two old men have kissed my hand so far, haha, those ones were funny. Old men are fun, at least the nice ones - the grumpy ones, not so much.
The houses and buildings here are mostly made of concrete - flat, boxy, some of the older ones have really cool statues and such peaking out at the tops. But most of the buildings are painted bright colors, which is fun. I think our building is a peachy color, more pastel though. We live above a bank and our apartment is probably one of the nicest apartment I've ever lived in. (Which is funny because I always thought the mission apartments would at least be as dinky as the apartments I lived in for college). The kitchen is small, but our living room is spacey and nice, and for two people it's just a good little place.
Since people live in these big buildings all smushed together, no one has back yards - yeah you kids with back yards, be grateful! To go tracting, "chodzic od drwi do drwi" (going door to door), you first have to get in a locked door in the front of the building in order to knock on each individual apartment door. That's where there is what's called a domophone. You type in the number of the home you want to call - we usually do the top door - and then if someone is home, they answer their telephone and we tell them we're missionaries and want to come up! It's interesting, but I actually like tracting a bit more than contacting, just cuz I don't know much Polish still.
There is KIWI YOGURT here...um have you ever had kiwi yogurt? I think it may be my new favorite breakfast food. It's SO yummy. Posies grow wild here, and I LOVE posies, actually, so it makes me happy every time I see them. Here you have to pay to use public restrooms, and there aren't very many - I've seen one in the park and one at the mall, but that's really it. So we have to use the bathroom at our house and at the chapel and that's it! Haha, sorta weird, but it's alright and works fine. The toilets here are shorter and there's no handle to flush with, just a button on top of the toilet.
Alright, so new friends...drumroll please.... Some would like to call these people investegators, but I like to think of them as friends, because really, they ARE! I love these people! For one thing, they are nicer than the 85% of other people who won't listen to us at all or who give us mean looks, etc. For another thing, they sometimes FEED US! :) Ewa is one of our new friends and she feeds us everytime we go over there (which hasn't been very many times, but still...) and she is so cute and SO nice. She's got her book of mormon all marked up with bright green post-it notes (which is my favorite color...haha...) and she loves the book. Honestly, that's all you need for a testimony, I think, when people read, they know! So if you haven't read your book of mormon today, READ IT! There's promised blessings that come from reading the book, and God is BOUND by His promises, so you do that, and He'll bless you, it's a PROMISE. :) Anyways, Ewa came to CHURCH on Sunday, and it pretty much made my whole week. She was in a pretty dress and she tried to sing with us in Sacrament meeting, and answered questions in Sunday School - - basically perfect! It was just really exciting, my first new friend to come to church! She said she liked it, and I'm just excited to see where this will lead.
One new friend is having a hard time believing that God exists and that he really is a loving God. Her parents died when she was younger and she has a lot of health problems and I can see why it would be hard to believe for her. The thing is, every time we are at her house, I feel this really great love for her. It's really interesting because it's like this love flows through me and I have to share it with her, like it's not really my love - I mean part of it is - but it's God's love. And if that's all I can share right now, then I guess it's okay. -- It's been a bit frustrating this week with the whole language barrier thing. It's like you're starving and you have this huge gorgeous meal in front of you but when you go to take a bite you realize there's this glass wall between you and the food. You can't eat the food if you can't break the glass. And right now, that glass is ten feet thick for me, I can't talk to people like I want to. I have so much to say! But no way to say it...and it's quite sad...maybe I ought to change the analogy just a bit, though, because these people aren't food and I'm eating them... it's more like there's a baby drowning and I can't get to it...yeah that's a bit too dramatic...BUT it's sorta true. These people do NOT have the truth. A lot of them are UNHAPPY because of it. And I have it and can't share it and sometimes it feels heart breaking. But at least I have Sister Folsom who can share it for me sometimes.
Sister Folsom, she's a friend too that I haven't given you much info on. Sister Susan Folsom is from Oregon. She plays the harp and the piano, has an amazing voice, and wants to be a doctor. She is right in the middle of her schooling to become a doctor but has already had an internship with a Heart Surgeon and she told me all about it on one of our morning runs this past week. She talked about all that goes into one heart surgery and it was so FACINATING. This girl is so smart, and so articulate it blows me away. Like she always knows just what to say and doesn't say stupid things. Unlike me, I feel like every word that comes out of my mouth is pretty stupid sometimes. Bleh. BUT I'm working on it, and maybe beoing around Sister Folsom will help the words in my mouth come out in a prettier more...thought out way? Hmf. Anyways, she's super cool, and now I want to come home and take an anatomy class and learn about heart surgery :)
Well, if there's one thing I learned this week, it's that life is sweet, even when life is hard, it's sweet. I was reading some hymns this morning, in the 250's - and they talk about going to battle, singing a joyful song. Those two things really shouldn't go together well...War, I think of people dying, smoke, pain, loss, you know-- bad stuff! But a joyful song, I think of Do-Re-Mi, or Tonight's Gunna Be A Good Night...haha...weird I haven't thought about that song in quite some time... BUT LIFE ISN'T MEANT TO BE EASY. And, men are that they might have JOY. So there's GOT to be a way for hard things to be joyful. I love it when I finally figure out that way. It's the getting there that's a bit difficult.
I love being on a bus and talking to a random person and telling them I'm from the states learning polish. They get this grin on their face and try to speak to me. Then I can hand them a Book of Mormon flier and it's just happiness. I love giving people compliments, it goes miles. And smiles go miles too, but I think I may have covered that point last week.
Anyways, I hope you are all being safe and doing good things. Laura Neumann Williams thank you for your letter, it's the first one I've got while in Poland and it made my day, especially the pictures! Have I said congrats to Stephen Fleischel on getting engaged yet? If not, man - you're the man. :) Good work! And I want an invitation.
Time is about up, so know that I love you all and that I pray for you. The work is going forward, I'm praying for a family to teach because the family in Poznan is moving in about two weeks and we won't have one any more. The strength a family brings to a branch this small is SO amazing. Families are what it's all about!
Alright, well Czesc! Till next week!
- Siostra Amber Allen
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